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Written with her permission

by Kristina Woodhill

she got her first tattoo at 96

decades of loathing
every tattoo

that walked by legging it
swung by arm to arm

meandered by rippling on a muscled back
nodded by on a huge bald pate

so she came to it late at 96

cue the cat puking on the carpet
cue the old lady leaping to action

40 year old mind's rising reaction
96 year old body falling for it

finding her walker a really good trip
kitchen corners and floor in cahoots

skip over the stapled head
ignore bandages protecting arm gashes
stop trying to discern a small broken collar bone

focus on the bathroom mirror
old deep-blue eyes fixed

on a unique method of application
deciding the spreading direction
of purples that defied repetition
and greens soon seeping
and yellows now creeping
as margins of purple, and I'm talking deep,
casually brushed their impressionistic blends

a sea of wildly vivid
an ocean of crashing intensity
a tie-dyed boob
skin daring to speak

a voice
slyly suggesting,
a photo, perhaps?

08/26/2017

Posted on 08/26/2017
Copyright © 2024 Kristina Woodhill

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Rob Littler on 09/02/17 at 04:20 AM

Such permanence here, Kristina. Time becoming NOW and then NOT NOW, continuum.

Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 09/07/17 at 12:12 PM

Quite lovely, the words you've gathered here, Kristina. They all speak vividly and musically to me, particularly the last two stanzas.

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